News & Commentary

After hours of debate, the Connecticut General Assembly house of representatives this morning passed LCO #3700, “An Act Concerning Police Accountability.” The version passed by the house is slightly different than the original bill, which was introduced under a different LCO number (3741).

Right now, Connecticut’s legislature is considering a bill that, among other things, would ban “qualified immunity” for police in Connecticut. As a result, the phrase “qualified immunity” is getting tossed around now more than any time we can remember, at least outside of legal circles. In Connecticut courts, qualified immunity is called “governmental immunity.”

Below, you'll find a copy of the ACLU of Connecticut's testimony regarding LCO No. 3471, "An Act Concerning Police Accountability," as introduced. Regardless of what happens next at the legislature, this bill cannot be the end of the conversation.

The first State's Attorney reappointments under new law are a chance for the Criminal Justice Commission to choose new leadership and send the message that prosecution in Connecticut needs to change.

It’s about bigger towns and cities, especially those where policing most harms Black and Latinx people, getting the same chance to do what other Connecticut towns have long done: investing hard-earned resources into schools, healthcare, food security, housing security, and jobs instead of policing.

This movement has been around since the early days of policing and has always been led by activists and organizers from communities that have been harmed by the police. It’s time people in power listen.

To understand what Lamont’s choice to add more businesses to the lists of those that have been open could mean for Connecticut, it’s useful to look at what his actions so far have meant for vulnerable people – the people who the government has left open and exposed to COVID-19 from the start.

Expanding absentee voting for widespread illness in the state is a simple and important part of protecting voting rights.

The numbers don’t reflect an unprecedented response to save incarcerated lives, especially Black and Latinx lives.